ST. LOUIS, Jan. 12, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LMI Aerospace, Inc. (Nasdaq:LMIA), a leading aerostructures and engineering services provider to the commercial, business and regional, and military aerospace, today announced the establishment of a new organizational structure and three new leadership positions within its Aerostructures segment. As part of the Company's revised strategy announced in November 2014, the Aerostructures segment has organized its plant operations into three Centers of Excellence (COEs): Assembly, Machining and Fabrication & Composites.

"The management of our 18 facilities under three COEs gives us a unique and exciting opportunity to streamline our internal processes, improve synergies and implement best practices. We believe this new structure will increase organizational clarity and provide better service to our customers, improving both our overall performance as well as our competitive posture," said Joe DeMartino, Chief Operating Officer ("COO") of Aerostructures.

Management of each Center of Excellence will be led by a Vice-President and General Manager reporting to the COO.

"I am pleased to announce the promotions of Scott Underwood and David Fillmore to Vice President and General Manager, leading the Machining and Fabrication & Composites COEs, respectively. I am also pleased to welcome Keith Schrader to the LMI team as the Vice President and General Manager of our Assembly COE," DeMartino said.

Underwood is a seven year veteran of LMI, having joined the company as part of the acquisition of Valent Aerostructures in December 2012. He previously held the role of Director of Program Management overseeing several large machining and assembly programs. Fillmore joined LMI in 2013 as the Director for Processing, overseeing the Company's Tulsa, Oklahoma and Cuba, Missouri processing facilities. Prior to coming to LMI, Fillmore was a Director of the G650 Program at Spirit AeroSystems. Schrader comes to LMI from GKN Aerospace where he was Vice President of Programs. He has 16 years of large scale manufacturing and complex machining experience with multi-million dollar programs.

"In concert with a strong functional leadership team, I am confident Scott, Dave and Keith will be successful in leading their COEs to meet our short and long term Aerostructures objectives," DeMartino said.

In connection with LMI's offer of employment to Schrader, and pursuant to his employment agreement dated January 2, 2015, Schrader will be granted an inducement award pursuant to NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). The inducement award consists of 1,770 shares of restricted stock at a per share price of $14.13 with a value of $25,010 on the grant date, January 2, 2015. The stock shall vest on the three-year anniversary of the date of grant, subject to Schrader's continued employment on the vesting date. The award is being issued as an inducement material to Schrader's employment.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking statements, including statements related to LMI's outlook for 2015 and beyond, and other statements based on current management expectations, estimates and projections. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees and are inherently subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events differ materially from the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include those Risk Factors detailed in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, and any risk factors set forth in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included in this document are only made as of the date of this document and we disclaim any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

LMI Aerospace, Inc. (Nasdaq:LMIA), is a leading supplier of aerostructures, engineering services, and structural testing to the commercial, business and regional, and military aerospace markets. For more than 65 years, LMI has provided solutions to its customers' most challenging problems across the entire aerospace industry. From manufacturing more than 40,000 products for integration into a variety of aircraft platforms to supporting aircraft product lifecycles and fleet support via complete turnkey engineering capabilities, LMI offers complete, integrated solutions in aerostructures, engineering and program management services. With "A Higher Level of Performance," LMI ensures every customer interaction and touch point is met with a commitment to deliver the highest-quality products, best customer service and the most outstanding value in the industry. Based in St. Louis, LMI has operations in 27 locations across the U.S. as well as internationally in England, Australia, Mexico and Sri Lanka. For more information go to www.lmiaerospace.com.